Hellobee Boards

Nothing lasts, good or bad. I can't count the number of times I got to the "omg this cannot go on" point and then two days later the problem was solved. A new problem had sprung up in its place of course! But I don't feel like any of the big issues lasted more than a week or two. The reverse is also true. Just when something gets awesome, it changes too haha.

@Mrs. High Heels: yes yes yes. buckle down around 7 weeks and things will be looking up soon!

@Mrs. High Heels: this growth spurt, which i just went through only a month ago, actually was my breaking point. i cried for hours and thought i made a huge mistake having a baby and felt not fit to be a mother. i was already struggling with how exhausting BF was and not getting any sleep at night so i could not believe things could actually get worse! but right after that growth spurt was over, he started sleeping longer stretches (consistently 7-9 hours now from being up every 2-3 hours), grew into somewhat of a routine, and started being so much more social, which makes everything so much more rewarding.

as a brand new first time mom myself (10 weeks in) i wish someone had warned me about this growth spurt!

My advice is to not listen to too much advice

Put your baby on a schedule as early as possible. I really feel it helped reduce a lot of potential anxiety on our end and LO thrived on the consistent routine. It also meant we anticipated her needs rather than waiting for her to tell us something was wrong by freaking out, eg we fed her before she showed signs of hunger according to the schedule and put her to bed before she showed signs of sleepiness, etc. I thought using a schedule might be hard and we wee open to ditching it if need be, but I was surprised at just how natural it was.

@chibee: Yes to growth spurts! Even as a second-time mom, a few days ago I was having a major meltdown because I just felt like LO was eating constantly - I couldn't keep up with him, I couldn't get him to sleep, I was freaking exhausted and baffled...and then a few days later as we came out of it I was like, "Oh, duh! Growth spurt!" The sleep deprived fog makes it hard to think rationally about things.

This isn't really a piece of advice, but I think letting your friends know you're there if they are having a tough time can be a huge help. It can be so hard to admit it and ask for help when you're struggling with the tough newborn stuff, and it's easier if you know there's non-judgemental people you can turn to.

@BeachMama: @loveisstrange: yes!

Listen to your instincts and relax! Every baby is different.

@mediagirl: yes! I found this on accident when C was going through her colic (before her reflux was under control) and about the time when she was going through the growth spurt that @Mrs. High Heels: was talking about.

My advice is to use white noise from the beginning - it's so soothing to them and makes your life so much easier when getting them to sleep. I used to run the exhaust fan, the water faucet and the hair dryer while getting C to sleep. Crazy, but she loved it.

Don't beat yourself up if you do things differently than you planned! Can't get into the cloth diapers, it's ok. Can't get some fresh air and sunshine everyday, it's ok. Watching tv while nursing, it's ok. It really is ok.

Your baby can sleep in a swing/(insert anything other than crib) for a long time, and I promise it's fine. One day they will sleep in their crib, but do whatever it takes until that time.

Zippers. I could not have survived those first months without the outfits that had zippers. And wee pads on top of the changing pad. With as many blowouts and messes that we had, all we had to do was throw away the wee pad, replace it with a new one, and put off laundry that much longer.

I think that you should just let go of the expectations you have for your child. When I was pregnant, I had unrealistic ideas about what having a baby would be like. I went through a rude awakening when I had a non-cuddly, hated napping, colicky baby. It led to a lot of confusion, frustration, irritation and (frankly) depression on my part. If I would have been able to realize that it wasn't going to be like I expected, I could have dealt with it better.
Also, 2 complete sets of sheet in the crib was a life saver. When they blew out in the middle of the night, I could strip off the first set of sheets and not have to re-make a bed at 3 a.m.

It gets better.

Love all the advice! Saving this for when LO comes in t-minus 6 weeks!

Sleep when the baby sleeps. The dishes will get done eventually. So will the laundry. Just sleep!